sergeant joshua hart. specialist stephen mace. each of these patriots gave their lives looking out for each other. and in a battle that raged all day, that brand of selflessness was displayed again and again and again. soldiers exposing themselves to enemy fire, to pull a comrade to safety. tending the each other's wounds. performing buddy transfusions, giving each other their own blood. and if you seek a measure of that day you need to look no further than the medals and rib bobs that grace their chests. for their sustained heroism, 37 army commendation medals. for their wounds, 27 purple hearts. for their valor, 18 bronze stars. for their gallantry, nine silver stars. these men were outnumbered, jut gunned and almost overrun. looking back, one of them said i'm surprised any of us made it out. but they are here today. and i would ask these soldiers, this band of brothers, to stand and accept the gratitude of our entire nation. [ applause ] there are many lessons of cop keating. one of them is that our troops should never, ever be